


No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

by Spiderlillies



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Dad!Sam, Jack dealing with nightmares AGAIN!, No Romance, No pairings - Freeform, Uncle!Dean, dadstiel, family fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-10-14 04:20:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17501453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spiderlillies/pseuds/Spiderlillies
Summary: The Winchesters start to notice Jack's overwhelming concern for Cas' safety, especially when he begins to have nightmares again; this time starring Castiel as the victim. It doesn't take them long to put two and two together.A Drabble fic of the boys finding out about Castiel's deal with the Empty.





	No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

“Still no answer?” Dean asked in a gruff annoyed tone. Sam inhaled quietly as he heard the familiar phrasing of Castiel’s voicemail and nodded. This was the fifth time they’d called the Seraphim. The 2nd time they’d done it outside of Jack’s presence.

 

“He’s with Claire and Jody, I’m sure he’s fine.”Sam sighed and a part of him winced realizing as a Winchester he had a moral obligation not to say such cliched comforts; after all, when had anything ever been _fine_ in their life?

 

“Yeah tell that to the kid.” Dean demanded as he took a sip of his beer. “You should’ve seen his face when I told him Cas wasn’t back yet.” Sam nodded in agreement as he continued. “I could barely get him in his room to rest up for tomorrow’s training with Bobby.”

 

“I know.” Sam agreed. “Any time Cas is out of the Bunker without him for more than couple of days he starts-

 

“Freaking out?”

 

“Yeah basically.” He agreed as he leafed through a Chilean text on a rare type of specters gathering intel for one of the apocalypse hunters.

 

“You think it’s like a nephilim thing?”Dean wondered out loud. “Like he needs some kind of kin around or something, I mean Angels usually live in big groups, right?”

 

“He wasn’t like this before he…” Sam trailed off as the incident of Jack’s passing, however brief, was still not a subject he wanted to dwell on.

 

“Maybe that’s it?” Dean offered. “Cas was the one that went to heaven to get him out, maybe they’ve got like a-

 

“More profound bond?” Sam teased unable to help himself. The older Winchester rolled his eyes.

 

“Yeah, something like that.” He replied begrudgingly as his little brother smiled at the sight of his annoyance.

_______________________________________________________________

 

“Sam?” Castiel called out as he made his way as quietly as he could down the stairs. Sam rubbed his eyes getting up from the study desk in the library. “It’s 3 in the morning is everything alright?”

 

“Yeah- sort of? What’s wrong with your phone?” Sam asked in sleepy frustration.

 

“Oh yes, it was crushed when a vampire tossed Claire at me, I’m happy to report that the phone got the worst of it.” He explained, handing Sam the broken the device. “Jody assured me she’d let you know I was on my way.”

 

“We got her message it's just you know… I didn’t want you coming home to no one.” Sam added unconvincingly.

 

Truth was with Michael and his monsters running around he really didn't rest much when anyone was out without checking in for a while. Jack may have been the only one expressing his concern at Castiel’s lack of communication verbally but both brothers felt a similar amount of dread until Jody’s text came in.

 

“I wouldn’t have taken your need for rest as a slight against me.”

 

“I was going to be up anyways, I like to keep a look out for Jack; he’s gotten into the habit of midnight snacking and it’s gotten a little out of hand.”

 

“A growing nephilim does require a substantial amount of nourishment.”Castiel defended lightly.

 

“I’m sure but I don’t think crisp cookie crunch or little debbie's snack cakes are the nourishment a quasi-celestial being needs.”

 

“Dean might disagree with you.”

 

“ _Dean_ is going to let clogged arteries take him out before any monster ever could.” Sam countered as he held back a yawn.

 

Castiel doesn’t respond but his lips curve ever so slightly into the trace of a smile the Winchesters have learned to decipher as amusement from the angel.

 

“I’ll keep a vigil watch.” Castiel assured. “Sleep is just as important to humans as nutrition, Jack might start picking up on _your_ bad habits as well if you don’t start setting a better example.”

 

“Yeah rig-.” Sam cut off as he saw Castiel stiffen and contort his face in pain.” Cas, what’s wrong?”

 

It took a moment for Castiel to collect himself, it had been awhile since anything on angel radio had been so deafening.

 

“It’s Jack- He’s screaming- crying.” Castiel clarified. “I think- I think he's having some sort of nightmare.” He added as they both rushed off to the nephilim’s room.

 

Castiel winced as he got closer and the cries of his surrogate son became clearer and more painful. It was for him… Jack was crying out for him.

 

They both reached the end of the hallway to see Jack’s room door open as well as Dean’s door down the hall. They heard him attempt to snap Jack out of his episode.

 

“Come on, Jack.” Dean called out. “It’s a dream, kid! You gotta-

 

Jack gasped awake and began to look around the room trying to make sense of the sudden break from his dream. He anchored himself to the sound of Dean's voice as the older hunter reassured him that the burdens of his nightmare were behind him.

 

He wept on Dean’s shoulder unable to form coherent sentences. The words “took,” “shadow,” “Castiel,” “save,” and “didn’t” was all Sam could make out of the boy’s cries. He doesn't miss how Castiel visibly froze at the sound of Jack's declarations.

 

“Jack- it was a dream, Cas- look Castiel is right here.” Sam beckoned.

 

Castiel felt something cold weight deep in his heart as the boy blinked up at him through his tears in palpable dread.

 

“Jack.” Cas called out and, as if breaking a spell, Jack’s horror stricken face melted into an expression of unbrittled relief. Before the angel can even understand what has happened, Jack has tackled him to the ground and is expressing his relief in tears of joy.

 

“I thought… I saw it! I saw it take you!” Jack explained. “We were together and you’d forgotten and it-

 

“I’m right here, Jack. I’m not going on anywhere.” Castiel soothed. “I’m right here.”

 

“You can’t forget, Cas, you have to promise- I don’t want to lose anyone else.” The boy admitted. “... I’m just so tired of losing.” He whispered burying his head in his father’s chest.

 

Castiel inhaled sharply as he let the implications of his son’s confession fall on him. He tightened his embrace around the child.

 

“Jack, of course I promise to remember… I promised your mother to watch over you and that was no small oath I vowed.” Cas reminded. He looked up at the photograph of Kelly Jack kept by his bedside. He’d failed her so completely… in the span of less than a year, Jack had already suffered losses and pain unimaginable- even to the point of losing his own life.

 

“I know, I just…I’m scared- I’m scared all the time.”Jack confessed.

 

Jack clung to his father and though unseen by human eyes his wings wrapped around him. Castiel froze- He knew Jack had no idea the meaning of the action: the declaration of love and protection that embracing another angel with your wings indicated. But it did not change how gesture touched the ancient creature's heart.

 

“Don't be.” Castiel reassured. “I'll be here, I've lived thousands of years and I plan to live thousands more whilst you need me.” He wrapped his tattered wings as best he could around Jack and let his grace sooth him. Jack fell limp in his arms as Castiel's grace had put him to sleep.

 

While he carried to his ward back to bed, the Winchester’s had usherred of some concerned hunters, including Maggie who was greatly worried about Jack, back to their rooms explaining it was just a bad dream.

 

Castiel fitted the bed’s comforter neatly around Jack’s sleeping form. He let his hands rake over the boy’s hair and tuck his bangs away from his face. He whispered a potent prayer in Enochian inciting peaceful dreams over his son before getting up to exit the room.

 

To his dread he found both Winchesters waiting in the hallway looking at him with a familiar look of distrust.

 

“Cas, what was that?” Sam asked, though the expression on his face let Castiel know he knew exactly what was going on. The angel sighed. “Jack was terrified, what’s going on, man?”

 

“I don’t need him to explain anything.” Dean hissed in an enraged tone. “I heard Jack in between him crying his damn eyes out on my shirt, I heard it clear as a bell.” He narrowed his eyes. “A deal- You made a deal.” He paused and let the accusation hang in the air as if waiting, hoping that Castiel would correct him.

 

When he didn’t, Sam let out a low grunt and ran his hands through his hair as he let the reality of Cas’ silence hit him. Dean looked down at the ground but his stance was that of a wild animal ready to pounce with his hands clenched into fists and his knuckles turning white. Their emotions were strong and overwhelming, the feel of them engulfed the seraphim and almost made him sick; fear, rage, sorrow, helplessness, pain, loss, betrayal, and _love_ . That last one threatened to break him, after everything they still loved him as their family.

 

“Every time I think you're done keeping secrets and lying to us, every time I think- just maybe- you’ve realized that we’re not your responsibility but your family; you do this! Every Damn Time!” Dean shouted. Sam gave him a look as if to remind him the bunker was not their own anymore.

 

“I-

 

“I don’t care.” Sam coldly interjected. “What’s done is done. We need to find a way to fix this. What’s the time frame, what are the terms?”

 

“It is... a long, complicated-.” Castiel began.

 

“Long? We’ve got all night, pal.” Dean retorted. “I’m not going to be able to shut an eye after seeing what I just saw, how about you, Sammy?” The younger Winchester looked Cas in the eye and gave him a sorrowful gaze.

 

“I couldn’t sleep now, even if I wanted to.” He admitted.

 

“Hear that? We’re wide awake and all ears.” Dean stated. “So we’re going to go the kitchen, _I’m_ going to get some whiskey, and _you_ are going to start explaining your beak off, capische?” He demanded in an unamused tone.

 

“Yes.” The Seraphim nodded. The two brothers gave each other a knowing look and started heading down the stairs. Castiel sighed… it was going to be a long night even for a creature as timeless as him.


End file.
